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VANCOUVER -- Over his two terms in office Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has made housing affordability, homelessness and poverty, job creation, transportation and the environment his key priorities in trying to make his city more livable.

He’s brought in the ambitious 2020 Greenest City Action Plan, poured millions into reducing homelessness, wined and dined the green and high-technology business sectors, encouraged rental housing construction and rewritten zoning policies that have allowed developers to densify established neighbourhoods, particularly along key transit routes.

But a new poll suggests that for all that effort, the majority of Vancouverites think Robertson hasn’t done enough on many of those promises or has barely moved the dial. Nowhere is that opinion more glaring than on the interrelated issues of housing and managing growth and development.

According to a new Insights West poll, 40 per cent of respondents believe the provision of affordable housing is the single biggest issue facing the city, compared to 17 per cent who think it’s transportation, 14 per cent who think it’s poverty and 11 per cent who say economic development is the biggest issue.

But when asked whether they think Robertson’s government is doing a good job managing growth and development, respondents were almost evenly split, with 44 per cent saying he was doing a “bad” or “very bad” job, compared to 42 per cent who believe he is doing a “good or “very good” job.

The online poll provides a benchmark for Robertson and his Vision Vancouver party, which is seeking a third term in November’s civic election.

Only three per cent of Vancouver respondents ranked crime as the most important issue facing the city. Mario Canseco, Insights West’s vice-president of public affairs, said the general attitude toward crime shows Vancouverites have bigger concerns.

“It shows there are a lot of people who are more worried about things they are dealing with every day, and the No. 1 issue is housing in the city,” he said.

The fact that 48 per cent of people between 18 and 34 cite housing as their biggest concern is something Robertson needs to pay attention to.

“That is the mayor’s base. I don’t buy the argument that only old people vote,” Canseco said. “Vision needs to court those younger voters again if they want to win. And when we look at what those voters ultimately care about, it is housing.”

Despite those observations, the poll shows Robertson continues to enjoy a high level of personal support, with 51 per cent saying they strongly or moderately approve of his performance. Those numbers are similar to pre-election polls in 2011 that showed half of respondents would vote for Robertson.

In other recent opinion polls, Vision Vancouver continues to dominate a very fractured political landscape, with popular support in the 40 per cent range, compared to half that for the other major civic party, the Non-Partisan Association.

But Robertson’s otherwise commanding support pales in comparison to that of Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, who in the same Insights West poll has the favour of 73 per cent of respondents, even though they have massive concerns about rising crime in that city.

When it comes to gassing up Vancouver’s economic engine, respondents question the mayor’s efforts. Only 31 per cent believe he’s implementing policies to help small business. Strikingly, nearly four in 10 respondents were not sure if he was doing a good or bad job.

Canseco said people appear to question whether Robertson’s international business efforts are paying off.

“I think it also has to do with the way in which they are helping people. There has been a lot of talk about being a ‘tech hub’ and all of the help they give to specific companies and start-ups,” he said. “There has been a lot of concerted effort on the part of the city to talk about Vancouver as some new Silicon Valley, but it may not be enough to make people look at that as something that is helping small business.”

Robertson’s office staff asked to see a copy of the poll material before deciding whether the mayor would comment. They later said while they found the information interesting, Robertson wouldn’t be commenting on any polls going into the election.

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Affordable housing the biggest issue facing Vancouver: poll

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